Strangers In The Mushroom Kingdom: Paper Mario
by DemonsHeart94
Summary: A group of friends find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom due to unforeseen circumstances. Stuck with no way home, the group embarks on an adventure with the Mario Brothers and other citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, trying to find a way home, but something more sinister is lurking in the shadows. First in the 'Strangers In The Mushroom Kingdom' Saga. OC/OC
1. Chapter 1

And we begin again! I do not own Mario or any of the characters or events besides my own. Have fun and let me know what you all think!

XXXXXXXX

**PROLOGUE: THE STAR SPIRITS**

Today…I'm going to tell you the story of "Star Spirits and Good Wishes."

Far, far away, beyond the sky, way above the clouds, it's been said that there's a haven where the stars live. In the sanctuary of Star Haven there rests a fabled treasure called the Star Rod, which has the power to grant all wishes. Using this wonderous Star Rod, the seven revered Star Spirits watched over the peaceful worlds carefully…very carefully.

And then…

An evil creature snuck into the sanctuary in the middle of the night with the intent of stealing the Star Rod in the hopes of finally defeating his arch nemesis. Bowser Koopa, King of the Koopas, with his sorceress underling, Kammy Koopa, stole the Star Rod, and defeated the Star Spirits, trapping them in separate cards, so that their power could not interfere. They flew away to places unknown to prepare for their attack on the enemy of the King, leaving the Sanctuary desolate and empty.

Now, Star Kids may rise to the Haven to deliver People's wishes…but those wishes will not come true. Whatever can they do?

*****In Bowser's Keep*****

"Mwahahahaha! Finally! With the power of the Star Rod, I'll finally be able to defeat that pesky Mario and his little friends! Then, Princess Peach will be all mine, and will rule the worlds by my side!" Bowser laughed triumphantly, holding the Star Rod above his head.

"Yes, my Lord," Kammy laughed as well, "the plan is going accordingly. Now all that's left is to make your wish to rule all the worlds! This one, and the others! Mario and his friends won't be able to stand a chance against us!" She flew around in circles on her broom in the throne room. Bowser laughed and held up the cards that kept the Star Spirits trapped inside.

"What do you all think? What's the best way to phrase this wish? 'I wish to rule all the worlds?' 'I wish for the worlds to be mine?' or my favorite, 'I wish for all worlds to bow down to me, their rightful king?'" He chortled at the Spirits. The leader of the Star Spirits, Eldstar, shook with fear and anger in his prison.

"You'll never get away with this! Someone will stop you!" Eldstar yelled. Bowser held the card up to his face.

"Oh," he smirked, "I'm hoping that someone will try," he held up the Star Rod, so the Star Spirits could see it clearly, "Star Rod, grant my wish! I wish to be the ruler of all the worlds! This one and the others that there may be!" The Star Rod began to vibrate and shine brightly.

"It won't work, Bowser," Eldstar yelled defiantly. There was a flash of light and then everything stopped. Bowser looked at the Star Rod, perplexed.

"What?! Why isn't this working?!" Bowser screamed, he grabbed Eldstar's card and held it close to his face, "What did you do?!"

Eldstar smirked, "the Star Rod can grant your wishes for things you do not have. You already see yourself as the ruler of everything, so it won't grant a wish it thinks you already have!" Bowser let out a roar of unbelievable proportions, scaring the nearby Goombas and Koopalings, "you've lost, Bowser, and so early into you plan too!" Bowser shook with anger, holding the Star Rod in his grip tightly.

"If you don't stop your blabbering, I will rip this card in half and that'll be the end of you!" Bowser screamed, but just as he put the Star Rod down to put his other hand on the card, a small yellow being shot right into the back of his head, making him drop the card, "What?!"

"Leave him alone, you big meanie!" the yellow creature yelled in a high-pitched voice. A small star, no bigger than the size of Bowser's eye, began to fly around his head, bumping into him as hard as he could.

"Sprigly! Get out of here! It's too dangerous!" Eldstar yelled in fear. The small star, Sprigly, did not respond, and kept attacking Bowser as hard as it could, doing nothing more than being a mere annoyance to the giant Koopa.

"Take that! And that! And that!" Sprigly yelled as he kept bumping into Bowser. Finally, Bowser grabbed the Star Rod and held it like a bat.

"Star Rod! Here my wish! Send this little pest to another world and out of my hair!" Bowser yelled, and hit the small star, sending him through a portal that had opened up on the other end of the room.

"Sprigly!" Eldstar screamed in horror, watching the portal close on the small star, to places unknown.

"Now," Bowser regained his original posture, "where were we?" He grinned maniacally and put Eldstar back in the cage with the other Star Spirits, "Oh, that's right. Time to start my assault on Princess Peach's castle, and make her my lovely bride to be!" Bowser laughed, making the Star Spirits shudder in fear.

"Sprigly…" Eldstar said tearfully, "please be alright…"

*****Somewhere Else*** **

It was a bright, sunny day in Dallas. The perfect day for laying around with friends. Which is exactly what this group of friends were doing. Jordan was laying on a lounge chair on the patio of his apartment, drinking a small glass of tea and listening intently to a story that his brother, Joseph, was telling. Next to Joseph was his fiancée, Tyler, and laughing at a funny part was Jordan's friend, Eli.

Jordan was a 25 year old, standing at 5'6 with medium length hair on the top of his head, with the sides and back shaved down. Gray eyes and a lean build, he wore black jeans, with a rainbow colored tie-dye tank top.

Joseph, Jordan's brother, was a 23 year old who stood at a tall 6'2 with short blonde hair, green eyes and a lean build. He wore gray jeans, a striped shirt, and denim vest over it.

Tyler, Joseph's soon bride-to-be, was 24 years old and stood at the same height as Jordan, with flowing, long brown hair, brown eyes, and an average build. She wore a simple black t-shirt, with capri shorts.

Eli, Jordan's friend, was a 26 year old who stood at a tall 6'0 with short, curly dirty blond hair, green eyes, and a lean build. He wore a blue t-shirt, and regular blue denim jeans.

"-and then the best thing, was that the bridesmaid dresses are going to be so simple and it's great 'cause it's going to be an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding!" Joseph finished, laughing at his own story. Jordan rolled his eyes as he took another sip of his tea.

"That seems a little messed up to be doing that for the people coming to support you," Eli mentioned. Tyler nodded.

"That's what I said, but it's _our_ wedding so we both get to have our own things that we want added to it," Tyler replied.

Joseph sighed, "you guys have no sense of humor." He got up and leaned over the side of the balcony, looking up to the sky.

"Keep doing that and you're going to go blind. Who will look at Tyler on your wedding day then?" Jordan joked. Joseph stuck his tongue out at his brother and looked back over the balcony. There was a small silence before Joseph spoke up.

"Guys," he started, "do you see that? Or have I been looking into the sun for too long?" he pointed up to the sky.

"Probably looking at the sun for too…" Jordan started before looking where Joseph was pointing. What looked like a small block spot in the sky was slowly growing larger, before spitting something out and shooting it right at the group, "DUCK!"

The object flew through Jordan's window and into his apartment, and when the group looked back up at the object in the sky, it was gone. "What was that?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know…but it dropped something in my housing…oh, crap, that's probably not covered by my insurance…" Jordan said, before running back inside, followed by his friends. There wasn't much damage to Jordan's belongings, just the broken window, but a small yellow star was laying in the center of the living room, "what on earth?"

"What is that?" Eli asked. Jordan shook his head.

"I don't know…but it looks like it's breathing," he answered, uncertainly. The star was raising up and down a little bit on the floor, like it was having trouble breathing, before two long black eyes opened on its face.

"AHH!" Tyler jumped back a bit, holding on to Joseph's arm. Jordan moved closer to the star, kneeling down beside it.

"Can…can you hear me?" he asked. The star nodded softly, "can you understand me?" another nod.

"Jordan, you're talking to a star!" Eli whispered, "it can't understand you!" Jordan looked back at Eli.

"I think it can, it's nodding to me," Jordan turned back around, "Are you hurt?" The star nodded again, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" the star shook it's head.

"My…light…is…dying…" the star said, slowly. Jordan gasped softly.

"You spoke," Jordan stated, the other three were looking on in disbelief.

"Please…you…have to…help…us…" the star spoke again, looking at the four. Tyler knelt beside Jordan.

"Us? There are more of you?" she asked. The star nodded again, "of course we will. What can we do to help you?"

"Tyler!" Joseph yelled, "we don't even know what this is yet! How can we help it?"

"That's why I'm asking!" Tyler yelled back, turning back to the star, "please, tell us."

The star breathed in again, "my world is…under attack…the king is…too strong…please…you have to help…our hero…he can't do it alone…"

"What?" Eli asked, now kneeling by the star as well, "is your…world…in a war?" The star nodded, "and you're asking complete strangers to help you fight a war, that they have no part of, and possibly who don't know how to fight?"

"Speak for yourself," Joseph smirked, kneeling by the star as well.

"Please…I only have a little light left…I can take you to my world…I will rest easy…knowing that it's safe…" the star whispered.

"Are you dying?" Tyler asked softly. The star nodded and Tyler put bother of her hands to her mouth.

"You're going to die regardless, aren't you?" Jordan asked. The star nodded. Jordan breathed in and looked at the star, "I'll do it." The response that Jordan got was one he wasn't expecting.

"Me too," Tyler said. Joseph and Eli nodded. Well, it was easier than to be expected. Go with the flow as they say.

"Alright, little one, take us to your world, we'll protect it for you," Jordan said. The star sighed softly in relief and began to glow.

"Thank you," it said, the other four beginning to glow as well, "look for the Mario Brothers when you arrive, and please, protect Princess Peach,"

"Wait, wha-" Joseph started, but he was cut short before the group disappeared in a flash of light, leaving nothing but a small dusting of sparkles falling to the ground.

XXXXXXX

And that's the prologue! I know it's nothing fancy, but hey! Let me know what you think! Reviews are appreciated, any ideas for how the characters can interact with each other, or even if you want to put your OC as some kind of character in here, shoot me a message or leave me a review! Thank you! See you next time!


	2. 2 Strangers in the Mushroom Kingdom

CHAPTER 2! LET'S GO!

Chapter 1:

Strangers in the Mushroom Kingdom

It was a beautiful afternoon in the Mushroom Kingdom. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining, with no clouds in the sky. It was a perfect day to be outside. Which is more than what this author can say for the sleeping Italian plumber, snoozing the day away in his house. What a bag of lazy bones. Ahem…

It was around this time that the mail was delivered in Toad Town by numerous Parakarry's. One in particular was carrying a very important letter for this lazy – I mean, heroic plumber and his not as famous brother. The Parakarry delivered the letter into the mailbox outside of the plumber's household, then screamed out: "MAIL CALL!" before flying away. The door to the house opened almost as soon as the creature finished the last word.

The younger brother opened the mailbox to see this important letter, stamped with the official seal of the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. The brother jumped for joy and ran back inside the house, tripping up the stairs on the front porch as he did. Klutz.

"Hey, bro!" the brother called out, "we got a letter from Princess Peach! Wake up!" His response was a snore from the other room. I should probably mention that this brother was named Luigi and the other brother is Mario. Did I not do that already? Oh well, you know who they are. Luigi huffed and walked inside the bedroom where his brother was asleep on the top bunk of their shared bunk beds. Aren't they adults? That's a little…strange. "Bro!"

The other brother, Mario, obviously, jolted awake and fell from the bed and onto the floor, causing Luigi to laugh. Oh, look. Their both klutzes.

"Ugh…what is it, Luigi? It's my day off," Mario complained, rubbing his head.

Luigi showed Mario the letter by shoving it right in his face, "we got a letter from Princess Peach!" When Mario tried to grab the letter, Luigi pulled it back and opened it, "I'll read it to you, ok?" Well, that was rude. "Alright, let's see…"

"_I'm throwing a party at my castle today! Mario and Luigi, I would be honored if you both could attend. Many guests from distant towns are hoping to meet you. There will be tasty sweets and all kinds of entertainment! I hope to see you here soon! Sincerely, Peach."_

"Oh! This will be so much fun! Can we go, Mario? Please, please, please?!" Luigi begged. Mario stood up and gave his brother a strange look.

"Luigi, I'm your brother, not your keeper. Even if I wasn't going, I'm not gonna stop you from going," Mario explained. Luigi jumped for joy and went to get ready for the party, leaving Mario speechless again. It took mere minutes for the brothers to get ready, putting on their signature overalls and respective colored shirts and hats, and they took off for the castle. The jumped into the warp pipe that was in front of their house and were transported to Toad Town.

The city was a bustle of noise and happiness from the Toads, who were excited to see the newcomers from the other towns that many of them never traveled to. This author is unsure if it's from laziness or from their cowardice. From what the brother's could tell, there were Goomba's, Koopa's, Boo's, Bomb-omb's, and all kinds of other citizens from the Mushroom Kingdom that were attending this party. Luigi could hardly handle his excitement as they walked up to the Mushroom Castle. Why is everything in this land starting with the word 'Mushroom'? I hate mushrooms…

"What a magnificent castle! I never get used to seeing this place! It looks like lots of guests are already here," Luigi pointed out, to which Mario nodded in agreement. There was plenty of noise coming from inside the castle, and one Bomb-omb was being consoled on the outskirts of the castle in the middle of a small crater.

"I can't believe I got so excited that I just exploded, that's never happened before," the Bomb-omb cried. Mario had to hide a snicker; he always loved the way the Bomb-omb's exploded. They entered the castle and were bombarded with so much noise, that their eardrums popped. Guests from all over the world were in attendance and looked to be having a marvelous time. It was nice seeing all of the different species all getting along for once. There hadn't been an attack from Bowser, the King Koopa, in months, and the kingdom was prosperous for it.

"Wow!" Luigi exclaimed, "I'm going to go look around and meet some people. Maybe Daisy even came! I'll see you later, bro!" Then he ran off into the crowd of people. Mario smiled to himself. Even if his brother was a pain in the mustache – did I really just write that? – he loved him and was always happy when Luigi was happy.

"Oh, my stars! It's Mario!" a voice rang out in the middle of the crowd. The noise died down and everyone looked over to see their hero. All of a sudden, the entire occupancy in the room swarmed our Italian friend and he began being assaulted with questions.

"What's it like to be a hero?!"

"Are you and the Princess going to get married?"

"I have no arms, can you get this toilet paper off my foot?"

Mario was beginning to feel suffocated and tried to get out of the screaming crowd, but it was no use, they kept pulling him back in. All he needed was a distraction to get away from these people. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from the ceiling and then there was screaming. The ceiling was screaming. That's something new.

Four people fell from the flash of light and crumbled into a heap on the floor, groaning all the while. The party-goers were silent as they stared at the new sight before them. Mario was the first to snap out of it and ran over to the group. "Are you okay?"

One of the people stood up, a girl, the only girl, holding her head in her hands, "yeah, I think so," and the others stood up as well.

"I think I landed on my arm wrong," one of the three boys said, holding his arm by the elbow.

"Speak for yourself," another boy said, "I landed on my hip and I heard a pop,"

"That pop was me, you landed on my back!" the last boy grunted. Mario could only stare at these newcomers, as they weren't like any other residents of the Mushroom Kingdom. They looked like him and his brother. But that was impossible, there were only six other people in this entire world who looked human. Himself, his brother, the Princess, Daisy, and his two rivals. But then again, Peach and Daisy looked human and were from this world…

The group looked around the room before their eyes finally settled on Mario. Their eyes grew wide as they saw one of their childhood heroes standing right before their eyes. Mario looked back at the group before asking, "something on my face?"

"No, no, it's just…where are we?" the girl asked.

Mario raised an eyebrow, "the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mushroom Castle to be exact," the group looked at each other and began to whisper. Mario wasn't able to hear the conversation at all, which made him a little irritable, "excuse me, but who are you?"

The group turned back to Mario and hesitated before answering.

"Jordan,"

"Joseph,"

"Tyler,"

"Eli,"

Mario nodded and stuck his hand out, "I'm Mario, nice to meet you," the group each shook his hand slowly, their minds still reeling from the fact that they were now in a land that they grew up knowing only as a fantasy land, shaking the hand of the famous Mario.

"Master Mario!" an elderly voice called from the stairs. Everyone turned to look at said voice, finding Old Toadsworth descending the stairs.

"Toadsworth! Good to see you!" Mario shouted back, "I was just about to come and look for you," Toadsworth hobbled his way over to the group, looking at Mario the entire way.

"Coincidences are all abound then, as I was looking for you as well," Toadsworth replied, "the princess would like to have a word with you in private. She is waiting for you in the main hallway to the chamber quarters,"

Mario nodded, "perfect, I'm bringing these four people along with me. They arrived under strange circumstances,"

"Strange circumstances, you say?" Toadsworth tapped his cane to the ground before walking over to the group, "you are about to be in the presence of the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, are you friend or foe?"

The four had no idea how to respond before Jordan said aloud, "…friend?" Toadsworth hit his knee with the cane.

"If you are a friend, you do not seem sure! If you are to seek an audience with the Princess, you must be sure of your intentions! I will ask again! Are you friend or foe?" Toadsworth shouted. Tyler stepped forward.

"Please, sir. We mean no harm to your kingdom, we're just unsure of anything that's going on. It's all a little strange to us," Tyler pleaded to the small man. Toadsworth 'harrumph-ed' and took a step back.

"Thank you for your honesty, young lady. You are permitted to see the princess," he then whapped Jordan's back with his cane again, "and you! Stand up straight! You'll be in the presence of royalty!" Joseph and Eli snickered from behind. Mario motioned for the group to follow him up the stairs, and Jordan was the first to move as fast as he could after him.

The hallway was a little too extravagant for any of their likings, but it was nice all the same. Like something out of a fairytale. Eli walked closer to Mario, "so, this princess, is she kind and sweet, or is she a ruthless ruler?"

Mario smiled, "she's a very kind soul. I'm sure if you explain your plight to her, she will be more than happy to help you in any way that she can." That seemed to put the younger ones at ease, little did Mario know, they all knew how kind the princess really was.

Soon enough, they were able to spot the princess, leaning against the wall, waiting for Mario. As soon as she saw him, her eyes lit up and she stood up straight, "Oh, Mario! You came to the party to see me! You're so sweet! Thank you! I was just resting a bit – who are they?" She asked questioningly, no hint of distrust in her voice, only curiousness.

Mario stepped forward, "Princess, may I introduce, Jordan, Joseph, Eli, and Tyler. They arrived, quite literally, out of thin air. And we were hoping you may be able to shed some light on the predicament," Peach walked gracefully over to them, hands in front of her.

"Of course! Welcome to my kingdom, Jordan, Joseph, Tyler, Eli. I am the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach. You may just call me Peach, even though I can never get Mario to call me that," she shot a look at Mario in a friendly way. He just rubbed the back of his head in response.

Tyler curtsied, "it's an honor to meet you, Peach," the boys bowed to her as well.

"The feeling is mutual," Peach smiled, "tell me, what seems to be this predicament?" Tyler and the boys all looked at each other.

"Well," Joseph started, "we…I mean…I'm not really sure how to put this, but the truth is that we're not from the Mushroom Kingdom, or this world for that matter," Mario's jaw dropped and Peach's posture waivered.

"What do you mean?" she asked. The group then explained what happened to them, with the star falling and the wish it made, however the omitted the fact that they knew who Mario and the princess were from their world. Mario was in disbelief, but Peach seemed deep in thought.

"This is troubling. 'The King' the star mentioned…I'm worried that it may be-" but she stopped her sentence as the ground began to tremble, "oh, what is that?!" The ground shook again, and the group all fell to the ground. Jordan looked out the window to see the sunny sky slowly turn to night, but he was too shocked to say anything. Why did this seem so familiar? Finally the castle stopped rising and all was silent. Everyone stood up and Peach ran over to Mario.

"Oh! Are you all right, Mario? What in the world was that?" She helped him back onto his feet, "Oh my! Look, Mario! It's still daytime, isn't it? ... But I can see stars outside!"

Jordan walked over to the window and looked down, "ummm…princess, I think I found the reason for the stars," everyone walked over to the window and looked down, to see that the castle was now high up in the sky, and seemed to be situated on top of a flying platform with chains dangling down to the ground below.

Joseph looked up and shouted out to the group, "INCOMING!" and everyone ducked away from the window before two figures burst through the glass. The towering figure stood up and laughed maliciously.

"Gwa ha ha ha ha ha! Long time no see, Princess Peach!"

"Bowser?! But this can't be! You're the one who made the ground shake?! What did you do!?" Peach yelled to the Koopa.

"Yeah, that was me! I've lifted your castle up into the sky! It's sitting on my castle now! Weren't expecting that, huh? Ha! This castle's under my control now, my dear! Now you will obey ME!" Mario ran in front of Peach, holding his arms up to protect her, "Huh!? What? It's...Mario! What a shock! Ha! Not really! I expected you to turn up, right on cue. You're just as annoying as ever. Unfortunately for you, there's nothing you can do this time,"

"Well, did you expect us?" Joseph yelled, standing next to Mario, soon joined by the other three. Bowser stood a little dumbfounded.

"Who the heck are you?" he asked, "ah, doesn't matter! I'll just squash you along with Mario!"

"Haven't you learned your lesson by now, Bowser? You can never defeat Mario!" Peach screamed, "Why don't you just give up already?!"

Bowser nodded, "True, true, I have had my problems in the past, but this time is different! This time I'm gonna win! So come on, tough guys! Let's see what you got!" Jordan got a nervous feeling like he had experienced this before but was still unsure in his gut. The five rushed towards Bowser with a battle cry. Mario jumped up and landed on Bowser's head. Jordan dodged a swipe from the Koopa King and sideswiped his leg. Tyler ran forward and slapped the Koopa in the snout before backing up and high fiving Joseph, who kicked the Koopa in the shin. Eli was able to go around to the back of Bowser and stomped on his tail.

"Come on, you guys! I know you can do it!" Peach shouted in support. Bowser was able to dodge the other attacks before he turned on the five who had grouped together for another go round, and breathed his fire breath on them all, scorching their clothes and giving them slight burns.

"Good old Mario...always fighting. And you four, who I don't know, you're just as 're a thorn in my side. But today, your pathetic little attacks won't beat me! Take a look at this!" Bowser took out the Star Rod and held it high in the air. It glimmered with a shine that was too good for this world. "Look what I stole from Star Haven! It's the Star Rod! This fine piece of work has the power to grant any wish in the whole world! And when I use the Star Rod to increase my strength, even you can't beat me!" Bowser ran the star rod over his head, and he began to glow with an almost rainbow luminescent.

The group ran to him again, except for Jordan who finally remembered how he knew this, "Wait! Don't attack! He's invincible!" But it was too late. The group attacked as much as they could, but they couldn't hurt the Koopa anymore.

"Gwa ha ha ha ha ha! Is that all you've got? How sad! You'd best take some vitamins, 'cause that didn't hurt at all!" Bowser laughed before swiping at them all with his massive claws, forcing them to fall back, bruised and beaten, "Yup, just as I expected. Mario's no match for the new me. It's not even worth my time to toy with you lot anymore, Mario. It's time to end this! Here we go, Mario! Good night!" Bowser breathed his fire breath again and everyone fell to the ground and did not get back up.

"Oh no!" Peach screamed, "Mario! Anyone! Get up!"

Bowser was jumping up and down with glee, "Yes! Oh, yeah! I did it! I finally did it! I beat my old rival Mario! Yessss!" The other koopa who came along with Bowser descended down from the ceiling, Kammy Koopa.

"Congratulations on your victory, Your Viciousness! That's why you're the King!" Kammy grinned. Bowser patted himself on the back.

"As long as I have this Star Rod, everything I wish will come true! No one can stop me now! Well, well, well... I guess I might as well get rid of Mario and his friends. They're no good to anyone now, that's for sure," Bowser raised the Star Rod up and called for bolts of lightning to the group, but Tyler was able to get up just barely, and dodge the bolt, panting next to Peach. The other bolts, however, hit Mario, Jordan, and Joseph, missing Eli completely, and sent the trio out the window and down to the ground.

"NO!" Peach and Tyler screamed. Bowser laughed as he sauntered over to the girls and Eli, who was still on the ground, glaring up at the Koopa.

"Now, what am I going to do with you three?" He grinned. And thus, the King of the Koopa's had finally won, and his rule over the Mushroom Kingdom began.

AND I WILL SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME! PLEASE REVIEW AND FOLLOW!


End file.
